time-outs

noun

plural of time-out
as in winters
a period of often involuntary inactivity or idleness we need to take a time-out from our relationship to think things over

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of time-outs Both of these non-sung time-outs are astonishingly good. — Chris Willman, Variety, 27 May 2026 Run opposing guards into the ground, step on the gas harder, and force your opponents into spending catch-your-breath time-outs. — Brian Robin, Oc Register, 28 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for time-outs
  1. winters
  2. breaks
  3. lulls
  4. pauses
  5. layoffs
  6. downtimes
  7. interruptions
Noun
  • More utility-scale renewables are online, and people and businesses across Ukrainian society have learned from successive bleak winters how to muddle through with batteries, generators, blankets, and candles.
    — Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Opening in 2023, French Custard has now made it through a few KC winters, and Wood said people still show up for their special pint drops.
    — Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of winters
Noun
  • Other incentives contemplated include a special 1% sales tax district in the project area and sales tax breaks on construction materials, city documents show.
    — Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 6 Oct. 2026
  • This is encouraging — trustworthy system should be able to pump the breaks and realize when data inputs are too unreliable to make accurate estimations.
    — Euan Ashley, STAT, 1 Oct. 2026
Definition of breaks
Noun
  • There are no lulls in the storytelling and all the actors are wonderful and hungry and bring the heat.
    — Ronda Racha Penrice, HollywoodReporter, 17 Sep. 2026
  • Dull spells and lulls will crop up, building like waves, peaking, crashing, then dissipating.
    — Carlos Valladares, ARTnews.com, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of lulls
Noun
  • Everyone stress-tests the checkout, then quietly buries returns, cancellations and subscription pauses.
    — Expert Panel®, Forbes.com, 2 Oct. 2026
  • But the situation is simply too perilous to entertain any more pauses.
    — Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of pauses
Noun
  • Yes, when the alternative is layoffs, closures or further disinvestment.
    — Claire Malon, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
  • In addition, African Americans — whose unemployment rate hit 7 percent in September — and recent college graduates are disproportionately feeling the pain of a job market in which, despite few layoffs, job opportunities are lacking.
    — Lauren Kaori Gurley, Washington Post, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of layoffs
Noun
  • These trends often materialize in batch changeovers, supplier changes, line downtimes and traceability challenges.
    — Ihor Yurchenko, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • The average response time for phone calls dropped to 6 minutes from 30 minutes in the prior fiscal year; field office wait times decreased to 23 minutes; and removal of online service downtimes has benefited an additional 125,000 users in a single week, according to the agency's findings.
    — Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025
Definition of downtimes
Noun
  • Fast-swap batteries can also get the robot back to work without lengthy interruptions.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 7 Oct. 2026
  • The five original Nobel Prizes were created under the terms of Swedish inventor and industrialist Alfred Nobel’s will and have been awarded since 1901, with only limited interruptions, chiefly during World War I and World War II.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of interruptions

Browse Nearby Words

time-out
time-outs
timepiece
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Cite this Entry

“Time-outs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/time-outs. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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